Okay, yes, a two week hiatus from MBT seems like eternity! I didn’t really MEAN for that to happen – I was finishing up a book before Memorial Day weekend, getting ready for a big event, and well, it consumed my brain! And left no room for otherwise coherent thinking. (And we all lost about 5 lbs, too. *g*) Last week, I spent…are you ready?…34 hours driving. Yes. Driving. I did listen to the Last Juror and The Kite Runner on CD, so it wasn’t just mindless.

But why, you ask, did you spend the equivalent of 5 hours (roughly) a day driving? One word: KIDs. Or maybe…Three words: I’m A MOM. See, despite the fact that yes, there are weeks when the kids scrounge through the house, eating things like cold ramen noodles for a snack, or oatmeal for supper, there is one call I still hear, even when wrapped up like a mummy in my imaginative world: (my kids call it my thought blanket) – the call to be a MOM. Which means that, regardless of how many words I have left in my scene, I hit Control-S, climb out of my pajamas (okay, yes it is 5pm, but I do my best work in my pajamas!), throw on some makeup and scrounge together a meal for 40 kids in the youth group. Or, attend my son’s play at school. Or drive my daughter and her friend six hours one-way to training day at camp. Or take my youngest (and feeling neglected) son go-karting. I’m a mom first. Then a writer. (and then, apparently, a Book Therapist. *g*).

(That doesn’t mean I don’t create worlds in my head as I drive, however. *g*)

Why do I do this? Because…I LOVE being a Mom. I’m called to it. I was created to do this job, despite the challenges and sometimes failures.

You see, the day I gave birth to my now 17 year old son, everything changed. Never again would I have the freedom (nor want it) to weigh my needs/wants/desires as most important. Motherhood made me see my weaknesses, my strengths, and most of all, what my greatest dreams looked like.

We’re going to get back on track this week at MBT to push our hero into the next stage of his journey – Incidentally, the 2nd stage of the three part act – the Initiation, or the segment of the story where the hero’s world is changed forever. The first stage was all about Departure, or leaving his world. Now, we’re see what happens as he walks the road. This week, we’ll be diving in to the Road of Trials, and talking about weaving in Spiritual Threads as the hero begins to see his weaknesses, his strengths….and point him toward his greatest dreams.

Oops, gotta run – it’s Track Meet Day! See you tomorrow!